Letters and Enclosures etc., Received from Gombroon [Bandar-e ʻAbbās]

Content

Two volumes containing a collection of letters and enclosures dispatched from Gombroon [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] Factory An East India Company trading post. to ‘the Court of Directors The London-based directors of the East India Company who dealt with the daily conduct of the Company's affairs. for affairs of the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies’. Each letter has the date it was received overland, and the date it was read in Court noted at the end of it. At some point these letters were assigned numbers from 2487-2604, in red (turned to purplish) ink. Any missing numbers in between indicate that the letter is missing.

The letters cover variety of issues and topics including:

• The state of affairs and military operations in a number of provinces in Persia [Iran] including, Mashad [Mashhad, also written as Mashat, Mushat, Mushatt and Musshat], Carmenia [Kerman], Gombroon, Yazd, and Spahaun [Eṣfahān]. Among the rulers involved in the operations were Shawrook Shaw [Shāhrokh Shāh Afshar, or Shāhrokh Mīrzā Afshār, c 1734-1796, also written as Sarook, Sharrook, Shawrooke, Sharooke and Shawroke], Carem Caun [Karīm Khān Zand, Vakil Elected representative or attorney, acting in legal matters such as contracting marriage, inheritance, or business; a high-ranking legal official; could also refer to a custodian or administrator. of Persia, also written as Carreemm], Ally Mardin Caun [‘Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtiyari, Ilkhani The paramount chief of certain tribes in south west Iran. of the Bakhtiyari Tribe], Ahzad Caun [Āzād Khān Ghilza'ī, d 1782, Beglerbeg of Azarbāijān], Ahmed Shaw Afgoon [Ahmad Shah Afghan Durrani, known as Ahmad Shah Abdali r 1747-1772, also written as Ahmet Shaw Aphgoon] and Nasseir Caun [Nāsir Khān Āl Mazkūr, r 1162-1203/c 1749-1788]
• Indent of woollen goods proper for the Persian market including: the type of cloth, amount by piece, colours required, and their prices. On some occasions patterns of coloured woollen goods were attached to the list as in folios 4, 195 and 214
• Indent of iron, lead and tin proper for the Persian market and the amount in tons
• Abstract of general expenditures at Gombroon
• Records of the Company’s cash balance
• The activities of the Dutch and the Russians in the region
• Reports on the activities of local Persian and Armenian merchants in the region
• News of Nadir Shaw [Nadir Shah, Shah of Persia 1732-1747] being killed by his own people in 1747
• A list of twenty-three rogoms [ raqams Royal grants confirming specific trading privileges from the Shah of Persia. or ruqums Royal grants confirming specific trading privileges from the Shah of Persia. , also written as rogomms: royal grants confirming specific trading privileges] granted to the Company by Nadir Shaw
• Suggestions to set up a Company house at the Island of Bhareen [Bahrain, also written Bahreen and Barren] or at the Island of Kishmish [Qishm]
• Reports on the status of the wool trade at Carmenia
• News of the deaths of Factory An East India Company trading post. members Danvers Graves and Robert Went
• News of Nasseir Caun appointing Moola Ally Shaw [Mulla ‘Ali Shah] to the Government of Gombroon
• News of the war between the Hoola Group of people who migrated from the Arab shores of the Gulf to the Persian side over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many of whom have since returned to the Arabian Peninsula. Arabs [ Hawala Group of people who migrated from the Arab shores of the Gulf to the Persian side over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many of whom have since returned to the Arabian Peninsula. ] and Nasseir Caun at Bahreen
• Lists of the Company’s servants in the Gulph [Gulf] of Persia containing their names, ages, stations, places, and salaries.

The volumes include enclosures of letters exchanged with the Factory An East India Company trading post. Warehouse Keeper, Danvers Graves, who took the place of the late Resident at Spahaun, John Pierson [also written as Peirsons]. Mr Graves was instructed to clear the Company’s debt at Spahaun, sort the outstanding bills, settle the affairs of the Carmenia bill, and provide a detailed account of Mr Peirson’s fraud accounts and his transactions with local merchants, particularly with Hodjee Ibrahim Bozoork [Haji Ibrahim Buzurg] and Mirza Boggher [Mirza Baqer, also written as Bagher]. The volumes also include records of the examinations of John Pierson before the Agent and Council at Gombroon, and remarks on his conduct and management of affairs at Spahaun.

The volumes contain enclosures of letters from the Resident at Bussorah [Basra], William Shaw, to the Court of Directors The London-based directors of the East India Company who dealt with the daily conduct of the Company's affairs. for affairs at Bombay [Mumbai] reporting on the state of affairs in the region, ships sailing and arriving, the activities of the Aleppo traders, letters dispatched to Aleppo, and the Turks’ activities in the region.

The letters in the volumes include records of the arrival and departure of ships, including the Rose Galley , the Welcome , the Godolphin , the Swallow , the Heathcote , the Fort William , the Fort St. George , the Jenney , the Nancy , the Prince of Orange , the Drake , the Oxford , the Shaftesbury , the Boscawen, the Man of War , the Prince Henry , the Hector , the Guardian , the Fezeraboony [ Fayz Rabbani ], and the Prince of Wales . Ships sailed mainly to and from Gombroon, Bombay, Bussorah, Surat, Bengall [Bengal], Boutchier [Būshehr, also written as Boucheir, Busshire], Madrass [Madras, i.e. Chennai], the Island of Socrata [Socotra Island], Batavia [Jakarta], Judda [Jeddah], China, Mocha, Muscat and England.

Extent and format

2 volumes (247 folios)

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the volumes.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: this file consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at f 1 of volume one (ff 1-130) and terminates at f 247 of volume two (ff 131-247); these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/G/29/17

History of this record

Date(s)

31 Jan 1745-16 Mar 1763 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Wool tradeShipsAdministrationTrade (practice)

Places

BussorahPersiaYazdMashadGombroonSpahaunKishmeCarmenia

People & organisations

ResidentChief Factory AgentShaikh of BushireRuler of the Afghan EmpireShah of PersiaResidentKarīm Khān Zand

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Cite this record in your research

Letters and Enclosures etc., Received from Gombroon [Bandar-e ʻAbbās], British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/G/29/17, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000001251.0x00036e> [accessed 29 June 2026]

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